On March 30, the Arizona Democratic Party sued the Secretary of State to force him to remove No Labels Party from the ballot. The lawsuit is filed in state court. Arizona Democratic Party v No Labels and Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, Superior Court, Maricopa County, cv2023-004832.

The Arizona law says when a party petitions for a place on the ballot, it must submit the affidavits of ten Arizona voters who represent the party. The purpose of this law is so that if the party qualifies, the Secretary of State knows who the party officers are. The Democratic Party says that No Labels submitted its ten affidavits too early in the process. It says the ten are not suppose to file until after the petition is complete. Here is the Complaint.

The press stories about this lawsuit are not accurate. They say the case involves whether No Labels must file certain federal campaign finance documents. Although the Complaint discusses No Labels relative to federal campaign finance laws, it does not actually allege that the party should be removed from the Arizona ballot because of anything relating to federal campaign finance laws.

Grant Tudor and Beau Tremitiere have published a 72-page study of how the U.S. could switch to proportional representation. No change in the U.S. Constitution would be required for make the U.S. House a somewhat proportional body. Instead, congress merely need pass a law, eliminating the requirement for single-member districts and implementing a plan somewhat like HR 3863 from the last session of congress. Thanks to Fairvote for the link.

The website Smerconish.com has my essay on why sore loser laws don’t apply to presidential primaries. See it here.